Environment

Land consumption in Italy: 43,000 hectares lost in 18 years according to Ispra

Between construction sites, new logistical infrastructures and energy production plants, the Italian territory is increasingly exposed to serious environmental and territorial safety risks

by Chiara Ricciolini

15 May 2025

3' min read

Key points

Lombardy and Veneto black jerseys of consumption
Rome ranks first for new construction
Fragile areas, such as coastal areas, are affected

3' min read

Between 2006 and 2023, 43,585 hectares of soil were lost in Italy. In 2023 alone, each Italian citizen lost 1.09 square metres of natural soil, bringing the total per capita consumption to 365.7 square metres. Soil is an essential resource for our life. Its erosion is a danger because it causes hydrogeological instability, reduces the availability of food and water resources, limits carbon storage capacity and exacerbates the effects of the climate crisis.

Italy should restore at least 30% of degraded land and marine areas by 2030. This is stipulated in the Nature restoration regulation (Nrr), one of the cornerstones of the European Green deal. But instead the land is being eroded at the rate of more than 70 square kilometres per year.

This is what emerges from the Atlas 2025 Territories in Transformation by the Ispra.

In 2023, the soil consumed reached 21,578 square kilometres, or 7.16% of the national territory. This figure is up from 2006, when consumption stood at 6.73%. The phenomenon concerns both large metropolitan areas and smaller centres.

Lombardy and Veneto black jerseys of consumption

The most urbanised regions are also those that record the highest rates of soil consumption: Lombardy is in the lead with 12.19% of the land compromised and an increase of +728 hectares between 2022 and 2023. It is followed by Veneto with 11.86%, Campania at 10.57% and Emilia-Romagna at 8.91%.

It is no longer just a question of residential expansion. Devouring cubic metre after cubic metre of land are now infrastructures for new logistics centres, such as the one built in the municipality of Anzola, in the province of Bologna between 2022 and 2023 of more than 15 hectares, and infrastructure and energy production. According to Ispra data, in the two-year period 2022-2023 alone, construction sites and infrastructure have subtracted over 5,100 hectares from the territory.

In the period from 2006 to 2023, areas for logistics occupied 5,606 hectares of land, including 504 hectares in the last year alone. For photovoltaic plants, the area occupied rose to 16,149 hectares, with an increase of 421 hectares between 2022 and 2023.

Rome ranks first for new construction

Rome ranks first in Italy for new construction, so much so that the Atlas dedicates an entire chapter to the capital. A quarter of the capital's surface area is now occupied by buildings and infrastructure.

Although land consumption was almost halved between 2006 and 2021, an additional 65 hectares were still occupied in 2023, and an additional 52.6 hectares were added in 2024 between new construction and building sites.

The most fragile areas, such as coastal areas, are affected

Anthropogenic pressure is particularly concentrated on environmentally valuable areas, such as coastal areas. Italian coasts lost 33,078 hectares of soil between 2006 and 2023 in the first 10 km from the coastline. The soil already consumed represents 24.3% of this area. An example is the industrial and commercial area of Pietrasanta, in Lucca, which between 2006 and 2012 saw the construction of a new area of about 4 hectares for industrial and commercial activities.

In the lowlands, soil consumption has reached 74.2% of the total, an increase of over 5,200 hectares in just one year. In hydraulic hazard areas, therefore at risk of flooding, more than 1,100 hectares were transformed in 2023 alone.

Natural residual soil is increasingly scarce in our country. This is a danger because it not only reduces the land's capacity to absorb rainfall, triggering one of the causes of hydrogeological risk, but also has direct effects on ecosystem services: reduction of carbon storage capacity, loss of natural habitats and increase of average temperature in urban areas.

Urban areas also suffer from the phenomenon of 'heat islands': the absence of vegetation increases the temperature of urban areas, impacting the quality of life and public health. As reported in the Atlas, according to the World health organisation, between 2000 and 2020, mortality due to heat waves increased by 94%, with the effects more pronounced in cities.